Official Charts Flashback 1999: Westlife – Swear It Again 25 April 2014 Official Charts Flashback 1999: Westlife – Swear It Again It was the first of an incredible 14 Number 1s for the likely lads from Ireland, and it topped the charts 15 years ago today. Google + It was the first of an incredible 14 Number 1s for the likely lads from Ireland, and it topped the charts 15 years ago today. 1999 was a time when pop ruled supreme and its hottest stars were boybands, and ones with an Irish connection were usually the hottest of them all. When it came to chart success, Boyzone were the boyband to beat, but as their time was coming to an end – for the next few years at least – it was an opportunity for five fresh faces, each topped by perfect ‘90s hair, to step up.

Westlife – originally Westside, but had to have a rethink because of an existing US group – were Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne and Brian (which he changed to Bryan, before going back to Brian) McFadden. In the age-old spirit of boybands lending a hand to young pretenders, the five lads were introduced to the world as being managed by Boyzone’s Ronan Keating. Behind the scenes, however, it was management supremo and future X Factor legend Louis Walsh who was looking after their interests. Their first single, Swear It Again, was an instant hit, debuting at the top this week in 1999. Watch out for the infamous key change: Swear It Again was first in a run of seven consecutive Number 1s, including 1999’s Official Christmas Number 1 I Have A Dream/Seasons In The Sun and a cover of Phil Collins’ hit Against All Odds featuring none other than Mariah Carey in 2000. It really, really happened. We saw it with our own eyes.

The group has 14 chart-toppers on the Official Singles Chart, the last being The Rose in 2006. Swear It Again has sold 375,000 copies, making it their 7th bestselling single in the UK. Their biggest is 2001’s Comic Relief single Uptown Girl – originally a 1983 Number 1 for Billy Joel – which has shifted over 785,000 copies. Over on the Official Albums Chart, they’ve had seven Number 1s, with six albums selling over a million copies. Their bestselling album in the UK is the first volume of greatest Hits, Unbreakable, from 2001. It’s notched up over 1.8 million sales. Chart Fact: 12 of Westlife’s Number 1s featured all five of them. After Brian left in 2004, they had only two more chart-toppers. Check out Billy's original chart-topping rendition of Uptown Girl before we rake over the rest of the Top 5 this week in 1999.

2: Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now Fresh from his first ever chart-topper (as Fatboy Slim, at least) with Praise You, Norman Cook continued his reign as the king of '90s DJs with this much-sampled smash. Thanks to Westlife, it wouldn’t advance any farther than runner-up position, but it scored him a fourth Top 10 hit. He’d go on to have three more, with the latest being the super-noisy anthem to all party-lovers Eat Sleep Rave Repeat FT Rivastarr and Beardyman, which hit Number 3 in late 2013. Right Here, Right Now has sold 372,000 copies in the UK – over 16,000 of those just last year! 3: Martine McCutcheon – Perfect Moment As EastEnders’ favourite tragic barmaid Tiffany, Martine McCutcheon captured the hearts of millions. As a pop singer, she managed to sell them a few records too! After two weeks at Number 1 with this, her debut solo single, Martine slipped two places.

But, unlike the time her soap character took a tumble in front of a car on Albert Square, there was plenty of life left in Martine and she went on to have four more Top 10 hits. Perfect Moment managed to shift over 610,000 copies. 4: Texas – In Our Lifetime While Martine was just starting out, Scottish pop rock band Texas were celebrating a decade in the biz, with their seventh Top 10 hit. Fronted by straight-talking Sharleen Spiteri, the band were regular guests on the huge TV shows of the day, like Chris Evans’ iconic ladfest TFI Friday. Six more Top 10 hits followed, with Sleep being the last in 2006. In Our Lifetime never advanced on Number 4, and sold 185,000 copies in the UK. 5: Basement Jaxx – Red Alert London dance duo Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe hit the Top 10 for the very first time. Red Alert would be the first of five Top 10 hits for Basement Jaxx, the highest charting was its follow-up, Rendez-Vu, which peaked at Number 4.

Red Alert was the first single from the band’s debut full-length album Remedy and has sold 270,000 copies. See the full Top 40 from this week in 1999 . There are some corkers of new entries from Janet Jackson and Busta Rhymes, TQ, Faithless, Armand van Helden and BMR FT Felicia (tune, seriously). Westlife: Westlife - Music on Google Play Full Review Victoria Pham October 25, 2013 Forever Love Westlife. They are the biggest Love in my Life. WESTLIFE! They are the biggest Love in my Life. WESTLIFE! James Gormley August 20, 2015 Great memories and a great album Westlifes debut album. rosefe weber August 4, 2014 Here started everything love love love westlife very much carenza moeller July 11, 2014 Westlife - Westlife WESTLIFE are AMAZING!!!!!!!

JACKIE PITRE March 29, 2016 LEAH pitre I want my birthday Melvin Bartolome November 4, 2014 Westlife Best Westlife Album in my opinion. Thomas love October 19, 2015 Helen brown Kelly Stevens September 19, 2016 Westlite Aiden Clarke April 16, 2016 Aiden Aiden Hit the target YT May 7, 2015 overpowered Westlife @ Wikipedia Westlife @ Wikipedia Enter subhead content here Home | Information & Updates | Latest News | Latest Video | Tour Dates | Audio | Poll | Ringtones | Lyrics | Album List | Photos | Links | How It All Began | Westlife @ Wikipedia Westlife is an Irish boy group created in 1998. The group has proven extremely successful in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, and are also massively popular in Africa, Australia and Asia. The group has had thirteen UK number ones singles between the years 1999 and 2005, the fourth-highest such total in UK history, behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Cliff Richard.

Westlife are also the only band in UK chart history to have entered straight at number one with their first seven singles. They are also the only artiste/group to win 'Record Of The Year' in the UK four times (often attributed to their loyal fanbase). Westlife have sold almost 40 million albums worldwide and have seven multi-platinum albums. 1999-2003: Irish 'Fab Five' Westlife was formed in July 1998, with the members Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, and Bryan McFadden. The group's roots can be found in Sligo in Northwest Ireland, where Egan, Feehily, and Filan were in a six-member vocal group named IOU, which released a single called "Together Girl Forever". They were then discovered by Louis Walsh, (who was contacted by Filan's mother), the manager of 1990s boy band Boyzone, but did not meet Simon Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, so changes were needed. Three members of IOU were given the sack, and auditions were held in Dublin. The band recruited Byrne and McFadden.

The new group was named Westside. As the name was already taken by another band, it was changed to Westlife. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the band with Walsh. Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Bryan McFadden shared most of the lead vocals. The boys can play instruments (Kian and Bryan play the guitar and the piano) and all five of them are songwriters, although most of their hits have been composed by outside songwriters. The group's musical influences include boy bands such as Boyzone, Take That, and Backstreet Boys, but also vocal bands like Boyz II Men. Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Backstreet Boys in Dublin. Later that year, they won Best New Tour Act at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In March 1999, their first single, "Swear It Again", was released, and went straight to the top of the charts in Ireland and the UK.

The band's success was to be confirmed when their second single, "If I Let You Go", entered the charts at number 1 in August 1999, followed by "Flying Without Wings" in November. They became the first number one of the new millennium when their double a-side single, "I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun", knocked Cliff Richard's Millennium Prayer off the top spot. In December 2000, however, they failed to secure their eighth chart topper in a row when kid's favourite Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It" was crowned Christmas number one. In 2001, the boys launched their first world tour, unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour", because of the band's reputation of performing perched on stools. They also released their third album, "World Of Our Own", with eight self-penned songs. 2002 saw Westlife release their Greatest Hits album amidst rumours of a split. However, they released their fourth album in the autumn of 2003 and won Record of the Year for the third time in five years.

Westlife last single "Amazing" was their 20th consecutive to reach the UK top 5, making Westlife the only band in the UK chart history that reached the UK top 5 20 consecutive times. The group has so far had 13 UK No.1's, 12 Irish No.1's and 7 Filipino No.1's. 2004-Present: And then there were four Bryan McFadden left the band on 9 March 2004 to devote more of his time to his family life with British TV personality and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona and their two children, Molly (born in 2001) and Lilly Sue (born in 2003). They subsequently broke up and Bryan started a solo career, changing the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian'. Brian entered the chart at number one with his first solo single, "Real To Me". If the loss of a member usually means the beginning of the end for pop bands, this was not the case with Westlife. Less than a month after McFadden's departure, the boys kicked off their fourth arena tour.

They released "Allow Us To Be Frank" later in the year, a Rat Pack-inspired album. In 2005, after a well-deserved four-month break, they came back with "You Raise Me Up", a cover of a Secret Garden song, which was the first single off their seventh album "Face to Face". On 6 November 2005, both the album and the single ("You Raise Me Up") were at number one in the UK charts and Westlife became the number one band in the world ; it was the first time ever the band had held both top album and single position in the same week. Having outlasted just about every other boy band, the members of Westlife continue to laugh off any speculation of a split-up, claiming their goal is to score at least 20 UK number one singles. As of late 2005, they have published five original pop albums, one Greatest Hits album and one Rat Pack-inspired swing album. Westlife's fan base is international: they have had success all over the world, especially in Scandinavia and in South East Asia, but also in Europe, Canada, Latin America, South Africa, Australia and even in the newly emerging pop market in Iraq.

Westlife have had sold out indoor and outdoor arena tours and they are one of the biggest pop acts to come out of Ireland ever. Westlife has duetted with some of the biggest names of the music industry, including Mariah Carey, Donny Osmond, Lulu, Donna Summer, and more recently Diana Ross. Claudia Schiffer and Vinnie Jones have also starred in their music videos. Westlife also collaborated with Asian-music sensation BoA on a Korean language version of the song which would appear on her mini-album, Shine We Are!. Westlife has not yet managed to truly break the United States market. Their debut single and music video "Swear It Again" was released in the US in 2000 and was a moderate hit on mainstream radio and MTV, reaching number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and being shown briefly on MTV's Total Request Live. Their debut American album was also released in 2000, but they have not yet released another album in the USA.

In 2002, an attempt to promote and release an American version of Westlife's "World Of Our Own" album was cut short due to the sharp decline in the popularity of boy-bands and pop music that year in the US. The only Westlife hit best known to American audiences is "Flying Without Wings", since it was later a success for American Idol winner Ruben Studdard. In 2003 they went to Nashville to film a TV documentary and recorded a song originally performed by country music legend Kenny Rogers, "Daytime Friends", which won them much praise. The band has won ITV's Record of the Year competition four times, with "Flying Without Wings" in 1999, "My Love" in 2000, "Mandy" in 2003 and "You Raise Me Up" in 2005. They have also won 2 Brit Awards. All the members of Westlife have successfully managed to juggle their careers and their private lives. Nicky Byrne married his childhood sweetheart in July 2003: Georgina Ahern, daughter of the Irish Primer Minister, Bertie Ahern.

Shane Filan married Gillian Walsh, Kian Egan's cousin, on 28th December 2003, and he became a dad in 2005, when Gillian gave birth to Nicole on 23 July. Kian Egan is currently dating former Hollyoaks actress and ex-member of Girl Thing Jodi Albert. On 19 August 2005, Mark Feehily publicly came out of the closet in the UK tabloid The Sun, and announced his relationship with Kevin McDaid of now defunct boy band V. Westlife will be doing there first Asian and Australian tour in September 2006. Westlife have just signed a brand new five album deal with Sony/BMG. Their eighth studio album is expected in the Autumn of 2006. Westlife: Westlife - Music on Google Play Dab M. January 9, 2014 What a song....... Makes me releaved all day long.

Britteny Moon July 10, 2016 Love this album Can't get enough of the 90s i miss these boys and savage garden Full Review Jennifer crooks November 29, 2014 Westlife I love this cd it is so cool I blast it in my car when I go any where Tippy of The BioniVerse June 26, 2014 Best band ever Westlife is the best band ever I have the unbreakable album Omar M March 3, 2014 All time favourite band , nuff said Remon Toma September 6, 2014 Amazing Great songs :) Westlife | New Music And Songs | Westlife About Westlife Formed in Dublin in 1998, Westlife followed in the tradition of European boy bands like Take That and Boyzone. The group performed ballads and club-worthy pop songs for a devoted European audience, becoming one of the continent's most successful bands in the process. Although they never managed to find American success, Westlife released six platinum-selling records in the U.K.

and eventually sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, a feat that helped them eclipse the popularity of pop titans like Boyzone, whose lead singer had managed the band during its infancy. Vocalists Shane Filan, Kian Egan, and Mark Feehily first performed together in another pop group, IOYOU, and experienced their first brush with success when Simon Cowell considered signing them to BMG. The group's other singers didn't make the cut, however, and a new round of auditions was launched to find more capable members. Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden were eventually added, the group was signed, and Westlife began prepping its debut album with the help of Louis Walsh, Boyzone's manager, and Boyzone member Ronan Keating. Their debut single, "Flying Without Wings," entered the U.K. charts at number one in 1999, a feat that Westlife replicated one year later with "Seasons in the Sun" and "Swear It Again." All three songs were also released on the group's self-titled debut, which was met with similar success and went platinum in the U.K. An American release followed in early 2000 courtesy of Arista Records.

Westlife never managed to make a dent in America’s pop scene, where national acts like the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears reigned supreme. It was a different story in the U.K., though, where the group charted 14 number one singles and continued releasing hit albums. Both Coast to Coast and A World of Our Own went multi-platinum, and the group celebrated its success by releasing a hits compilation, Unbreakable, Vol. 1: The Greatest Hits, in 2002. Turnaround followed in 2003 and fared similarly well, but Bryan McFadden nevertheless left the lineup one later year in the hopes of launching his own career. “Real to Me,” his first single as a solo artist, topped the charts in 2004. Westlife continued touring after McFadden’s exit and released Allow Us to Be Frank, a tribute to the Rat Pack, in late 2004. They returned to their contemporary pop formula with 2005’s Face to Face -- their biggest-selling album in three years -- and continued releasing material throughout the rest of the decade, including The Love Album, Back Home, and Where We Are.

In November 2010, Westlife released Gravity, their tenth studio album. Following the release of single "Safe", the band announced they would be leaving Simon Cowell's label Syco. Citing a lack of support from Cowell following Syco's unwillingness to release a second single from Gravity, the group signed a one-album deal with RCA Records. A Greatest Hits album was then released a year after Gravity, featuring four new songs that would turn out to be band's last as they announced they were to split following a farewell tour. Sold out in minutes, the tour was a huge success, ending on 23 June, 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, in front of a crowd of over 80,000. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi Westlife | LetsSingIt Lyrics #1 Hits & Rare Tracks [2000] Biography Westlife is an Irish pop group formed on 3 July 1998. The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne , Kian Egan , Mark Feehily , Shane Filan and Brian McFadden (departed from the band in 2004).

The group is the only act in British or Irish history to have their first seven singles go straight to Number 1, and they have gone on to sell over 44 million records worldwide which includes their studio, single, video, and compilation albums. Despite the group's worldwide success, they've only had one U.S. hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts: "Swear It Again," which made it to #20 in 2000. Westlife were originally signed by Simon Cowell and are currently managed by Louis Walsh. They garnered 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom, the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard and trailing behind only Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The group has also broken a few top records, including "Music artist with most consecutive number 1's in the UK". It was officially announced by the Official Charts Company that they are the "2nd biggest selling artist" (trailing behind Robbie Williams) and "Biggest selling band of the decade" (beating Coldplay) in UK with 11 million album sales.

On 1 June 2008, Westlife marked their 10th anniversary with a concert in Croke Park, Dublin which saw more than 83,000 fans attending the special occasion. Music Week revealed on their website that Westlife is the official third top touring act within the years 2005–2008, while they were 7th top touring act of 2008. Also in 2008, they were declared as Ireland's ninth-richest celebrities under 30 years old and 13th in general with 36 million euros as a group. In 2009, they dropped as 16th richest Irish with estimated 8 million euros each. Formation (1998-1999) Prior to becoming successful, Egan, Feehily and Filan along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One and was later changed to IOYOU. Managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh along with two other informal managers, they released a single titled "Together Girl Forever".

Walsh, the manager of the 1990s boy-band Boyzone, was contacted by Filan's mother and came to know about the group. However, IOYOU did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Three members of IOYOU were told they would not be part of the new group, and auditions were held in Dublin where Byrne and McFadden were recruited. The new group, formed on 3 July 1998, was re-named Westside but as the name was already taken by another band, it was later changed to Westlife. In Westlife - Our Story, Byrne revealed he was keen to change the name to West High but the others wanted Westlife. Brian also changed the spelling of his name to Bryan to make it easier to sign autographs. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. The band then released an EP titled Swear It Again, though only in Asia.

Dreams Come True - World of Our Own (1998-2002) Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later that year, they won the 'Best New Tour Act' award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In March 1999, the group released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in UK for two weeks. Their second single, "If I Let You Go", released in August 1999 along with the highly acclaimed "Flying Without Wings" (their first 'Record of the Year'), released in October the same year, also followed suit. "Flying Without Wings" was also included on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers film, Pokémon: The Movie 2000. The first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and peaked at #2 in the UK. Ironically, the album was the biggest chart dropper in the music history of UK, falling from #3 to #37.

In December 1999, the double a side fourth single was released,"I Have A Dream"/"Seasons In The Sun", knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot and earning them the 1999 UK Christmas number-one single. The fifth and last single from the album, "Fool Again", also peaked at #1. Then, the group went on a short UK, US and Asian tour in support of their debut album before releasing a second album. Coast to Coast was released a year after and was another #1 UK album beating the Spice Girls' Forever album. It became the country's 4th biggest selling album of 2000 and is Westlife's biggest selling album to date. The album was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey on the Phil Collins' classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the original song, "My Love" (the song that bagged their second 'Record of the Year' award). Both singles reached #1 on the UK charts. With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record of having their first seven singles debut at the top of the UK charts, tying with The Beatles.

However, in December 2000, they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row with their UK and Ireland only single "What Makes A Man" when kid's favourite, Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It", was crowned as the Christmas number-one single of that year. Outside the UK/Ireland territories, they have released "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That" and gained chart success. In 2001, the boys launched their first world tour, "Where Dreams Come True Tour", unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour" due to the group's reputation of performing while perched on stools. Westlife released World Of Our Own, their third album, in November 2001. "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own" were released as singles, as of which all peaked at #1 in the UK. "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single but it peaked at #5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, Westlife went on their second world tour, the World Of Our Own Tour (In The Round).

Unbreakable – Departure of Brian (2002–2004) The group released their eleventh UK #1 single, "Unbreakable", in 2002. Amidst rumours of a split, Westlife released their first greatest hits album in November that same year entitled, Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 zoomed all the way to #1 in the UK. The release was followed by the double a side single, "Tonight/Miss You Nights", which debuted at #3 in the UK. At this era, Because Films Inspire... made a TV Documentary titled as "Wild Westlife" directed by Iain MacDonald and starred by the group itself. It reveals how was their musical life on a daily basis and when on tour. In 2003, Westlife went on to their third world tour, The Greatest Hits Tour, shrugging off rumours of a split. In September 2003, Westlife released "Hey Whatever", which peaked at #4 on the UK Charts. Their fourth studio album, Turnaround, was then released in November, earning the group another UK #1 album.

"Mandy", a cover of the Barry Manilow hit, was released in November 2003. Their version won them their third Record of the Year award in under five years. Their version of Mandy is also considered as the highest single leaper to the top (from #200 to #1) in the UK music history. "Obvious" was released as the final single from the album, charting at #3. On 9 March 2004, just three weeks prior to embarking on their fourth world tour, Bryan McFadden left the group to spend more time with his family and work on solo projects. On that day, a press conference was held where all the group's members were present and gave emotional individual speeches. Bryan's final public performance as part of Westlife was at Newcastle Upon Tyne's Powerhouse nightclub on 27 February 2004. He subsequently began a solo career, deciding to revert the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian', he released his first solo single, "Real To Me" which entered the UK chart at #1 and soon after, he released his first solo album, "Irish Son" under Sony Music.

He went on to release more singles with moderate success. Quintet to quartet – 10 years (2004–2009) Less than a month after McFadden's departure, the group kicked off their "Turnaround Tour". A live version from the said tour of "Flying Without Wings" was released as an official UK download, earning them the title of the very first UK Downloads #1. They then put out a Rat Pack-inspired album, Allow Us to Be Frank, peaking at #3. No singles were released in the UK from this album. "Ain't That A Kick In The Head", accompanied with a music video, was released as a physical single in other European countries. "Smile" and "Fly Me To The Moon", with music videos as well, were released as digital downloads only. Prior to the album release, Westlife scouted for "the perfect fan" to help promote their album from their one-season special show "She's The One", presented by Kate Thornton. After X Factor-style auditions, they found Joanne Hindley, who recorded "The Way You Look Tonight" with the group.

To mark this special collaboration, a special programme was televised, showing auditions and live performances. Performers included Joanne, Westlife members' fathers and glamour model Katie Price, Il Divo and Kevin Spacey. Westlife continued to tour Europe as part of their "The Number Ones Tour", before taking a four-month break from work. On 4 May 2005, Westlife lost their battle for European trademark from the German trademark "West". In 2005, Westlife returned with their comeback single, "You Raise Me Up", which was taken from their Face To Face album. On 6 November 2005, both the album and the single were at #1 in the UK at the same time at the second week of the single. It was the first time that Westlife have held both top album and single position in the same week. "You Raise Me Up" was awarded as their fourth Record Of The Year in UK for 2005. In December that year, the group released "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", a duet with Diana Ross, as the second single and it debuted at its peak position of #2.

Westlife then released a third single, "Amazing", which debuted at #4 and marked as the group's lowest-selling single yet. After that, Westlife embarked on the "Face To Face Tour", travelling extensively to the UK, Ireland, Australia and Asia. This tour marked the first time that Westlife have travelled to mainland China for a concert. In late 2006, Westlife signed a brand new five-album deal with Sony BMG. Their eighth album, The Love Album, was a "love" concept album which consisted of popular love song covers. The album outsold other compilation albums by Oasis, The Beatles, and U2 in its first week of release and went straight to #1. The first single from The Love Album was a cover version of Bette Midler's classic, "The Rose", which became their 14th UK #1 single. This made Westlife the third act (along with Cliff Richard) in the UK to have the most #1 singles, tailing behind Elvis Presley (21) and The Beatles (17). Westlife then kicked off their eighth world tour, "The Love Tour", in Perth, Australia.

The group then went on to other Australian cities before moving on to South Africa, the UK and Ireland. Westlife staged their last major concert of 2007 at Bitts Park in Carlisle, England. On 5 November 2007, Westlife released their ninth album, Back Home, which contained nine new original songs along with three cover songs. The album debuted at #1 on the UK Music Charts and it was also 2007's fifth biggest selling album in the UK. The first single released from the album was a cover of Michael Bublé's "Home", which peaked at #3 in the UK. "I'm Already There", not released as a single, managed to chart in the UK based on downloads alone following a performance on an The X Factor episode. On 15 December 2007, they had a two-hour show called The Westlife Show where they performed 10 of their songs, some voted by the fans through online and some from Back Home. It was hosted by Holly Willoughby. This time, Westlife together with Tesco brought out "The Definitive Westlife Quiz" that asked about the whole history about the boys.

It was participated by thousands of fans worldwide. Months later, "Us Against The World" was announced and released as their second single in UK and Ireland. It peaked at #8 and is the group's lowest charting single to date. Before the release of the second single, they embarked on the Back Home Tour on 2008 February 25. This tour marked the first time that the group have traveled and performed to New Zealand, performing four sold-out shows in Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth and Christchurch. Meanwhile, "Something Right" was released as the second single and "Us Against The World" became the third single in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Both songs performed well on several music charts. To mark their tenth year in music, Westlife staged a special 10 Years Of Westlife sold-out concert at the world's thirty-third and Europe's fourth biggest stadium, Croke Park, on 1 June 2008. With a capacity of 82 300, it was the boy's biggest show to date. Shayne Ward filled in as a support act for the concert, which Kian described to be of a "pop extravaganza".

Shane confirmed that a corresponding live concert DVD will be released. The group announced that they will be on hiatus for a year after their Back Home Tour and that there would not be an album release in 2008 as they would be spending more time on the production of their tenth album. As promised, the group's official website confirmed on 27 September 2008 the release of a DVD on 24 November 2008 entitled 10 Years Of Westlife - Live at Croke Park Stadium which went straight to #1 on UK, Ireland, South African, Hong Kong and New Zealand Music DVD charts. As the group ended their successful Back Home tour, Louis Walsh announced in the show Xpose that 1 July 2008 is the official start of the longest hiatus of the group so far. He said that it will be a one-year break, from that day up to 1 July 2009. On 13 December 2008, while on a break, Westlife made an unexpected appearance on X Factor Final Performance Night where they performed "Flying Without Wings" with JLS.

After the presentation, Shane and Nicky were interviewed on Xtra Factor with Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately of Boyzone. As JLS performed also "I'm Already There", Westlife's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at #63 while a new entry on Ireland Singles Chart at #47 due to extensive downloads only. On the last week of January 2009, a DVD entitled The Karaoke Collection was released. It contains some of their music video hits. In 27 February 2009 issue of Herald Ireland, Louis revealed that Simon already picked three new songs which he reckons to be instant hits. Nicky spread the word last 8 March 2009 that Westlife will come back to music charts when they start recording in June 2009 when he received his VIP Style Awards as the Most Stylish Man on X-pose, TV3. On 18 March 2009, they won the Best Irish Pop Act on 2009 Meteor Awards for the ninth consecutive time.

Where We Are (2009–2010) Walsh has revealed that after a year's break with their friends and family Westlife will return to hit the charts once more in June when they work on their tenth studio album. Walsh also said that while he met up with Cowell they jointly managed to mastermind Westlife's comeback. At the time three songs had already been chosen which he believes will be big hits when they are released. Filan told the Irish Mirror that they want to make the next album one of their best. The new album, Where We Are, was released on 30 November 2009 in the UK and peaked at #2 on both Irish and UK Albums Chart. The new single "What About Now", was released a few weeks earlier on 23 October 2009, with digital downloads being available the day before. The said single peaked at# 2 on both Irish and UK Singles Chart. Daughtry's original version of the song gained exposure on the audition rounds of The X Factor prior to Westlife's release. They were also part of the Haiti charity single in early 2010, "Everybody Hurts", an R.E.M.

cover which was organized by Cowell. The tour in support of this album is called "The Where We Are Tour". The video album for this said tour will be released in DVD and Blu-Ray format in 29 November 2010. Gravity (2010–present) The eleventh album was recorded and processed with the Grammy award winning songwriter/producer John Shanks in London and Los Angeles. It will be entirely produced by Shanks. On 19 September 2010, their first single "Safe" was heard first on X Factor as a snippet; the group later performed the song on the show on 14 November, 2010. The said single will be released on 14 November 2010. The new album named Gravity, which was named by a fan, is scheduled for a 22 November 2010 release. Gravity Tour dates for 2011 supporting the upcoming album have also been announced. Despite their success in some parts of the world, Westlife have been unable to break into the US market.

Their debut single and music video "Swear It Again", released in the US in 2000, was a hit on mainstream radio and the band even made an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live. The song was #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 year end chart of 2000. A US edition of their debut album, Westlife was also released. In 2002, an attempt was made to promote and release a US version of World Of Our Own but was scaled back as the band decided to concentrate promotions in other foreign markets where they had a larger fan base. This was a surprising decision as the band did not maximize the potential and opportunity available when the two most prominent boy bands in the US, the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, went on hiatus that year. The Westlife hit song "Flying Without Wings" peaked at #2 in the US when American Idol Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard recorded and released it as his debut single. The band was disappointed when they heard of the news as they were planning on bringing that song to the American audiences in the near future. In 2003, Westlife went to Nashville to film a TV documentary.

While they were there, they gave a live performance of the song "Daytime Friends", originally by country music legend Kenny Rogers, which won them much critical praise. Westlife is signed to the management of major record label Sony Music. Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Sonny Takhar, Tim Byrne comprise some of Westlife's management and production team. Aside from Steve Mac and Wayne Hector, the group has the opportunities to work for their original songs with many well-known songwriters/producers including Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Max Martin, Anders Johansson, Josef Larossi, Jorgen Elofsson, Andreas Carlsson, Arnthor Birgisson, Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Diane Warren and most recently Ryan Tedder, Chris Braide, Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello, Steve Anderson, and John Shanks. Long-time collaborator Wayne Hector has defined the essence of Westlife songwriting: "If you want to write a song for Westlife, you've got to have a lyric that connects on a basic level. We've always thought the reason Westlife songs have been so successful is because it's about situations that everybody goes through.

We weren't trying to be too clever about it, we were trying to be emotional." For their remixed songs, Rokstone, Orphanz, Ashanti Boyz, Wideboys, Soul Seekerz, and Jim Steinman have already worked for the group on some of their single releases. The group had studio recorded and live collaborations in some of the most renowned music acts such as Mariah Carey ("Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"), Lulu ("Back at One"), Joanne Hindley ("The Way You Look Tonight"), Diana Ross ("When You Tell Me That You Love Me"), Donna Summer ("No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"), Delta Goodrem ("All Out of Love"), and "If I Had Words" with The Vards. "I Have A Dream", with Indonesian childstar Sherina and "My Love" with Amr Diab. These songs were also recorded and included on the various albums. In 2002, Westlife re-recorded their hit song "Flying Without Wings" with Cristian Castro and Korean singer BoA as two separate duets.

Westlife have performed live duets with some of the biggest names in the music industry including Sinéad O'Connor ("Silent Night"), Donny Osmond ("Crazy Horses"), Mariah Carey ("Never Too Far/Hero Medley"), Secret Garden ("You Raise Me Up"), Lionel Richie ("Easy"), Ronan Keating ("The Dance"), Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries ("Little Drummer Boy"), Roy Orbison ("Pretty Woman"), Delta Goodrem ("All Out Of Love"), Raymond Quinn ("That's Life"), Leehom Wang ("You Raise Me Up"), Mary Black ("Walking In The Air"), Kevin Spacey ("Fly Me to the Moon"), Do ("Heaven"), JLS ("Flying Without Wings"), Boyzone ("No Matter What"), Various artists "All-Stars" ("That's What Friends Are For"; "Merry Christmas Everybody"; "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday") and even their fathers ("That's Life"). Some of the music video directors who have worked with Westlife are: Cameron Casey, Wayne Isham, Nigel Dick, Stuart Gosling, Phil Griffin, Antti Jokinen, David Mould, Alex Hemming, Philip Andelman, Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini.

Shayne Ward, No Way Out, K-otic, Natural, Six, Totally Spies, D-Side and Lauren Waterworth, Bellefire, The Conway Sisters, V, Twen2y4se7en, Zoo, Kwest, Pop, No Way Out, Sub Bass 5, Traphic, Mark Dakriet, 4th Ba5e, Reel, Peter Andre, Girls Aloud, Eton Road, Gareth Gates, Roxanne, Alsou, The MacDonald Brothers, Billiam, Cushh, The Unconventionals, Dyyce, Lady Nada, Code 5, Annabel Fay, Hope, The Fuel, Wow, Jedward, JLS, and Wonderland have supported the boys on different tours. The boyband concept is designed to have different parts and roles. Filan, Feehily and McFadden (pre-depature) all take part on the main vocals while Byrne and Egan usually perform the backing vocals and very occasional solos in songs up to the recent date.

These are the classifications on vocal abilities: Filan has 'the popular tune' (mid-range to high voice) and thus sings the tenor-like melody most often, whereas Feehily has 'the soulful voice' and can go from quite low baritone notes through to a very high tenor voice. He sometimes sings falsetto. Byrne has 'the husky voice' and can sing high harmonies effortlessly, while Egan has 'the rocky voice' and usually does low harmonies. Over years of their career, Westlife's music has evolved from teen pop to a pop sound, with an emphasis on ballads. Most of the group's hits have been composed by experienced songwriters, most notably Steve Mac and Wayne Hector. For the band's list of own songs composed The band classify themselves as a pop band recording pop songs which comprises ballads and love songs. Westlife has been known for their teen pop songs during their early days with slow, mid, and uptempo songs. Albums known for teen pop sound are Westlife, Coast to Coast, World of Our Own and Turnaround.

As the years progressed they tried different genres like jazz and big band in 2004 with Allow Us to Be Frank album and pop-rock in 2009 with their album Where We Are. As they also mature, they verge into adult contemporary being most evident on their cover album, The Love Album. Matured pop songs are also found on their LPs, Face to Face and Back Home, and most likely their upcoming album Gravity. Every Westlife album have always been a mixture of genres. R&B genre is evident as a sound of the band since the start where their voices were harmonizing and blending with each other. We can hear it on their songs "When I'm With You", "How to Break a Heart", and "Sound of a Broken Heart". Acoustic genre also took place as they have its versions with their songs "My Love", "Flying Without Wings", and "If I Let You Go". Club or electronic sounds were also heard from their remixes on each singles released. Dance music is also a genre of Westlife as heard on their songs "When You're Looking Like That", "Bad Girls", and "Uptown Girl".

Live music has came to their way as they have officially released recorded live sounds such as "You Raise Me Up" (Live at Croke Park) and "To Be With You". They did country music too like their recording of "Daytime Friends, Nighttime Lovers". As a pop band they are also inspired to cover songs that were different and put into their own genre which is pop (With the likes of "Home" from jazz music, "I'm Already There" from country music). During their starting days, the band's musical content was mostly about love and inspirational songs but as they grew older, they have given the chance the songs that were from an individual's everyday experience in life. As for their image, they publicly begun as boyband with wholesome and clean-cut image. Now, they call themselves a manband with a more broad and manly looking image as they grow older. The group's influences are Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, and Boyzone while pop is their main music influence. They are adored by many people even celebrities like Chris Martin of Coldplay. The band have "tribute bands" performing their songs like Westlives, That's Life, and Westlike.

On the other hand, Westlife also paid tribute to their co-boybands as one of the tour setlist. When Westlife got signed formally in 1998, their managers are already emerging them to be big superstars as they went to grandiose producers and songwriters. They released their debut album and single in the right time with the bandwagon peak of pop boybands and girlbands. They went well firstly on UK and Irish music charts and got an extensive popularity worldwide. It is notable that their popularity is always there with a huge and loyal fanbase everywhere. As a testament, their latest single "What About Now" peaked at #2 on both UK and Ireland and have 12 million+ plus views on their music video of "Flying Without Wings" on YouTube. Finding success worldwide was not an easy task for the band as they also passed through hard criticisms. As a boyband, they were compared to other co-boybands such as Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, Blue, A1, and Take That and to other pop bands like S Club 7 and Spice Girls.

Some of the products that Westlife officially released are books, calendars (from 2001–present), tour merchandise such as T-shirts, and fragrances. They have their own webpage for their official merchandises since 2008, available for men and women. They also received sponsorship from Adidas on 2002. To the list of their books, they have official and unofficial books released online. The lone book written by the members of Westlife was released on 16 June 2008 by HarperCollins UK Publishing entitled 'Westlife - Our Story', as part of their 10th year celebration. The book was said to be written by each group member for three months. It contains the life they have for the past ten years in the business. It features also some of the private pictures from the lads. On 28 May 2009, they re-released the autobiography, adding their Croke Park experience and first time in a paperback edition. At that time also, the band released a 3-piece perfume set entitled "X". It leaked on December 2008 and was formally released on November 2009.

In September 2010, they will release their second fragrance entitled "With Love". While each member of the group has had their own individual humanitarian advocacies and activities, Westlife has been supporting various projects for a charity cause from the start. One of which was when the group re-recorded "I Have A Dream" with Indonesian star Sherina for a UNICEF fund raising. Aside from that, the boys released their cover version of "Uptown Girl" as a Comic Relief single, which was one of their biggest selling singles to date. Apart from it, they have also helped the S.I.R.F. organization in aid of the South Asian tsunami victims. On 4 November 2005, they performed together with Christina Aguilera and Diana Ross at Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa for The "Unite of the Stars" Gala Banquet charity concert that supports four charities: the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Unite Against Hunger, St. Mary's Hospital and the Topsy Foundation. They've also been actively helping both the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), ChildLine and Children in Need, Cancer Research UK, Soccer Aid organizations.

Most recently, they performed "Us Against the World" live on Sports Relief, of Bluebell Wood, London and participating in Galway's Irish Water Safety Campaign by doing an advertisement. They are also an official supporter of One World Beat. They are involved also on the Helping For Haiti charity single that was released 8 February 2010 on UK. They are promoting Who's Calling awareness campaign of Childline. They are also included as ambassadors of The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). They also support the Outward Bound Trust. Aside from Soccer Aid, Nicky and Shane were among the list of international film and sports stars and amateur golfers who participated in the worlds greatest funraising golf Pro-Am, the JP McManus Pro-Am in Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort in Adare, Co Limerick, Ireland on the 5th and 6 July 2010. Westlife played for the 1100 invited guests at the Gala Dinner in Adare on the 6th of July after they had earlier that evening played to a sold out concert in Live at the Marquee in Cork.

Pictures (3) show more (16-31 of 156) Similar Artists show more (16-31 of 60) More artists show this week's top 1000 most popular artists 18 hours ago

Question: 'Swear It Again’ was the first No. 1 album for which group in 1999?
Answer: Westlife